“Ash v. Evil Dead” S1, Ep. 2 “Bait”

ash-vs-evil-dead-bruce-campbell-episode-2-bait-2We open our second episode as Ash instructs his new pupils in the lost art of effective Deadite disposal. All seems well, until Kelly begins to harass Ash about getting over to her parent’s house to check on her mother’s mysterious return from the grave. 

With his usual tact, Ash lets her know that he has bigger fish to fry, namely tracking down the dude at the metaphysical bookstore who can help him reverse the curse that he started during his sex-induced stupor. Not that he relays any of his responsibility for the Deadite’s return publicly mind you…

While Pablo engages in out and out hero worship. Ash goes outside to hook up the trailer to the car.  He’s not outside ten seconds when Kelly roars out, hops on Pablo’s bike and screams off into the night. A bewildered Pablo comes out to tell Ash that she has taken the book. With his usual crustiness, Ash tells Pablo to saddle up. They are going to find Kelly and get back the Necronomicon. Neither of our heroes, however, takes the time to notice the crouching figure who is lurking in the shadows behind the car.

On the road, Ash puts the lie to Avoiding the 13, pounding beer from the bottle while Thin Lizzy blasts from the 8Track (this show has been spot on with the soundtrack, so far, Ageists). He’s in the middle of his usual bad advice to Pablo when Deadite hands grab him from behind. Lo and behold, it’s his boss, back Deadite style… And he’s more than a little pissed at his truant employees.

Full scale insanity ensues with Ash trying to fight his Deadite boss while at the same time keep his car and trailer on the road. The choreography for this little slice of mayhem is inspired and answers the question if the series’ set of directors can follow in the Rami  action/comedy formula (bravo, Michael J. Basset).  The whole thing ends with a broken beer bottle to the Boss’ neck… Several times…

Meanwhile, Det. Fisher is poking around the trailer park crime scene that Ash has left in his wake. Ash’s neighbors are all to eager to point the finger at our bonehead hero. In fact, they recall a certain loud night of passion between Ash and a tattooed tramp (Their assessment, of course. We here at AOTN never Slut Shame anyone who ends up crawling on ceilings!). This catches the interest of Fisher as the skank in questions sounds a lot like the Deadite that killed her partner.

As she investigates the grounds further, she finds a business card on the ground for a local metaphysical bookstore. Vintage Ash cock-up…

At Kelly’s house, Ash and Pablo seem to be breaking up a quiet family reunion. Mom (Mimi Rogers) seems to be okay, no fangs, no white eyes, no crazy voice. Somehow this is a family reunited by Mom’s returned memory. They never did find a body, right? All is good.

But Ash isn’t buying it. He begins to confront Mom about her return from the dead and grill Kelly about the book. Pablo gets Ash to stand down… And accept Mom’s dinner invite.

While the duo is cleaning up in the trailer, Pablo comes clean himself. Kelly never did have the book, it was in his backpack all along. Ash pops his top, but Pablo impresses on him that this might be the only time he can get in good with the Parentals. Ash gives him some homespun wisdom about Deadite trickery coupled with some metaphors  about whales, bait, fishing and reeling… Which, of course, Pablo doesn’t absorb. Ash tell him to just wait and see.

Dinner starts off a little tense, with Ash dining with his chainsaw on the counter and shotgun at the ready. The entree is a little rare, as well… But Mom counters that Kelly always liked it mooing.

Ash then begins to grill Mom about her reappearance… Where was she? (amnesia, she counters) Why does she remember her life now (it’s all coming back to her slowly) What does she plan to do now? (strangely vague answer) It’s all perfectly innocent until Ash decides to haul off and deck her rather than ask any more questions. C’mon, it’s only a 30 minute show, and of course, Ash is right.

While everyone freaks out around him, Mom shows her true colors and goes Deadite Mideval. She’s quick and Ash is a little rusty. Dad gets a fork to the eyeball in the melee.  Mom escapes before Ash can give the full Kibosh.

Kelly flees to her room, overwhelmed by the fact her mother is a soul-less, crazed killer. It’s then Mom appears as normal, pleading with Kelly to help her fight the evil inside of her. Kelly tearfully shields her from the onrushing Ash and Pablo.

Now, you know how this ends up, my friends. Mom goes psycho at the right moment and Ash and her duke it out in close quarters. A chainsaw is put to good use and Pablo and Kelly get their second bath of blood in 24 hours.

The morning finds a solemn scene. Ash has lovingly prepared graves for the parents with his own trademark bound twig crosses. Kelly tells him that her parents were Jewish. Ash lets he know she needed to speak up before he went through all that trouble.

The duo is now a trio, taking their Buick-power vengeance ride on the hot rails to Hell.  But as we close, it seems that Det. Fisher is one step ahead of our crew as she is making her way into a certain metaphysical bookstore.

What do we think, Ageists? Ep. 2 certainly packed a punch (much like the one Ash put to Deadite Mom’s face) and kept the story moving. Yes, it’s been a little predictable and Ash’s sidekicks have been fairly useless to this point. Also, no Lucy Lawless this episode either (boooo)!

Ash v Evil Dead coverBut it’s still early days and it can’t possibly do anything but get better, right?  And the previews seem to show that Lawless will be a big part of next week. So, we’ll see you, Ageists with the hope that next week, we get Xena putting an Ash sized smackdown on some Evil Dead…

 Let us know about your take of “Ash v Evil Dead” so far in the comments below!

 

 

About Jason Stewart

Jason Malcolm Stewart is a Northern California-based author, journalist and public relations/marketing professional. He holds degrees in Political Science and Comparative Religion, but can have a conversation without starting a small war. When he's not writing or reading, J. Malcolm spends his weekends talking about how to avoid being in a real-life horror movie. add blog

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